All Is Fair
by Kali Cephirot
Summary: I am the last one of my House. I would see the Bielefeld house stand up proud, after everything it has lost. The fight of Ruffas Bielefelt.................... Ancestors, Ruffas Bielefelt centric.
1. Chapter 1

**NOTES:** The idea for this came after talking with a friend, mentioning that Gisela seemed more manly than Ruffas and I mentioned, jokingly, that perhaps Ruffas was making a 'Mulan', meaning that Ruffas was really a woman pretending to be a man.

I DON'T KNOW IF THIS STORY IS GOING TO BE CONTINUED. As of now, it's only a one shot to explore this idea and for the moment it's not going to have a continuation. PLEASE. PLEASE don't tell me to continue or hurry up. Right now, the story IS finished. I don't have a plot for this to be longer than a one shot. The Story Is Finished. Got it? Good.

-..-

**All Is Fair.**

Ruffas' body wasn't even yet cold upon his bed when the news about the man who traveled with the cursed dark one arrived upon the Bielefeld lands. Mathilda remembered, heart unbearably heavy, that her brother had meant to follow the lord of the Spitzburg family to gather revenge after their lost ones.

But his demise had come first.

"I would take your people to the war and care for them as if they were my own, if that is your wish." Siegbert told her that evening, voice quiet and solemn as they remained by Ruffas' side. Where in the past her brothers would have been talking in jester and making plans, Ruffas the loudest and more enthusiast, now only she remained. She kept her hands holding her brothers, the link they had shared as twins all but lost.

The mourning clothes felt so heavy upon her shoulders. There wouldn't be a Bielefeld lord until she bore a heir, her wedding with Siegbert postponed due to the five years of mourning she ought to follow.

Mathilda put her brother's hand upon his chest and leaned forward, brushing Ruffas' hair from his brow to place a kiss upon his brow. Then she turned towards Siegbert, his eyes as heavy and solemn as hers.

"May I talk to you as I did in the past, as a friend rather than my lord, Siegbert?"

He looked startled for a moment before he nodded, walking closer to her.

"I would not have you address me any other way, Mathilda."

Her throat was dry, the promise ring upon her finger suddenly clenching. Mathilda closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her strength and the will her mother had tried her best to break her away; as sorry as she had always been of causing pains to her mother, Mathilda couldn't help but be grateful at the moment.

"I would follow my brother's last wish," she said, doing her best to keep both her voice and temper checked. "And have our people help in this war... with Ruffas still on their command."

Ruffas and she had oft pretended to be the other, when they had been much younger, their magical signature almost identical as well as their physical resemblance, as any other marking upon their bodies except for their sex. It had been only after their sixtieth birthday where they had had to stop playing, when Ruffas had started training with older brothers Heller and Alger, both long lost to the war and she had been promised to Siegbert.

Their resemblance still remained, down to the very fact that Ruffas' hair was as long as hers.

Siegbert's eyes were heavy on her, his mouth set in a tight line.

"Are you mad with grief, Mathilda?"

How oft had she lamented her boyish figure? She might be mad but she was already planning how she'd be able to carry this task. Certainly it wouldn't be unheard of, after losing so much in such a brief time, that she was to move away while her mourning lasted, while her betrothed marched to war. Her maids, she knew, would offer no troubles if she was to tell them, had oft enough in the past helped her disguise herself, helped her hide the fact that Ruffas had been teaching her how to use a sword, sharing the learnings of magic that she hadn't been allowed to pursue.

"Not with grief, Siegbert, but with fire," she told him, trying not to look too ready for this, not when her brother's body wasn't even rigid yet. "I would see my family avenged and their dreams fulfilled."

"If that is your wish, I will see it through," Siegbert answered, eyes dark, expression just as troubled. "This isn't one of the games you and Ruffas indulged, Mathilda. I would not see you risk yourself in vain."

"I am the last one of my House," Mathilda spoke, voice strong and certain. "Fates have me a woman, but I would fight for my family and for the land they died protecting."

"It is my duty to do so in your stead," Siegbert's voice grows in strength, before one of the candles sizzles he remembers the respect for her brother's body. "And it is what I promised. I would not have your brother's will against me "

Mathilda turned to look towards her brother's body for a moment. The healer's magic had erased most of the cuts and bruises her brother had gotten in battle, had done the same with Siegbert, but Ruffas' wounds had been just too terrible. Mathilda knew without a doubt, despite the fact that Ruffas hadn't woken up once, that what had hurt his brother the most had been the knowledge that he might have failed.

She swallowed her doubts and asked for her brother's spirit not to think ill of her for what she was about to say. She looked towards Siegbert again.

"I know you loved Ruffas well, Siegbert, perhaps even more than you love me," before Siegbert could interrupt her, his eyes wide and surprised, she placed her hand upon his arm, smiling gently at him. "And I know that if he had been free to do so, my brother would have loved you the same way, and it has always been a weight upon my heart knowing that I stood between the two of you. Allow me to do this in Ruffas' name. Won't you help me keep my family's honor? I would see the Bielefeld house stand up proud, after everything it has lost."

Siegbert looked at her for a long moment, eyes the color of the darkened sky before he sighed, head bending low.

"Sometimes I forget that you remain a fierce opponent, Mathilda."

Mathilda smiled, throat suddenly tight with something other than grief for the first time since her father had been struck, since her twin had been brought by Siegbert in his arms, already dying.

Her father and mother, her brothers and Ruffas, she knew, would have expected nothing less from her. "All is fair."

Siegbert sighed again and reached for her hand, holding it gently. He smiled.

"I would not deny you, nor your family's pledge for honor."

-...- 

The Shining One, as the men that were already traveling with them, was smiling as he welcomed them. Mathilda kept herself from showing fear as she and Siegbert knelt in front of their future king, Siegbert offering his vows.

When it was her turn, she took a deep breath to stop her voice from faltering, wishing for her brothers' strength to aid her.

"I too offer my magic, my life and my sword."

As she offered her brother's sword, Mathilda left her previous life behind her.

"Ruffas Bielefeld, my lord."


	2. Only Taking Turns

**Only Taking Turns.**

It had been easier than she would have expected to grow used once more to being called 'Ruffas'. Now-a-days she thought of herself always as her brother, rather than her own, and she prayed everyday that her brother wouldn't consider it a dishonor for her to carry on with his name and shed hers.

The one time she had mentioned that to Siegbert he had laughed, shaking his head. "No-one would think that, and certainly not your brother, and you know it."

If anything else, at least she had brought honor back to the Bielefelt name, which she thought would, at least, easy the dishonor to her ancestors, was she to be found out. Over the last two and some years, she had grown upon battle better than she had ever done while staying at home. Now, a general to the proud army of mazoku, she prayed for no more than for them to come out victorious of this war, and perhaps for her to see Bielefelt lands once more.

Ruffas liked this new life, even if she was aware that it wouldn't last. As the last of the Bielefelt, she had a duty, and at the very least she knew that Siegbert would be a good husband, and that he wouldn't mind if one of their future children was to take the Bielefelt last name, to ensure that the family would carry on.

But she was not to think about that kind of future just then. That was the promise, yes, but the present was so much more important, with the things they had to lose, and the promises that lord Spitzburg made for them. And if she wanted to follow this young lord, whose words had brought together mazoku and human and everything in between? There was no dishonor in that. Few could resist the Shining One's spirit, his promise of justice, of creating a golden kingdom for them all to live.

There was no dishonor she could fathom on kneeling in front of him as their king.

Ruffas shook her head, glaring a moment at her own mindfulness because she ought to know not to be so distracted, not when Soushi's spies could hide in the shadows of their own thoughts, and instead she picked her slack once more, working to sharpen her sword.

Sudden steps made her stand up and turn sharply, her fire at her fingertips, ready for her to call.

"Ruffas, I am not averse to my men sleeping, I hope you realize that," Spitzburg's smile was kind and with just a hint of mischief, his good mood well known to every mazoku that called him their liege. It still makes her blush, a little, the familiar tones he has for her-- or for Ruffas, rather -- how it has been months since he had stopped calling 'Ruffas' sir Bielefelt. She still bows her head.

"I was just finishing with my sword, my lord," she answers, masking some of the softness of her voice in the way Ruffas' voice used to sound, and it's familiar now, the way to push her voice a little further, thankful that her youth makes it so that it's no surprise the way it sounds.

Spitzburg sighs as he sits by her side. "And still I would be willing to bet against Lawrence's food that you are going to stay awake forlonger than it's absolutely needed, my friend."

Ruffas ducks her head even further, hoping that the light from her fire masked the flush to her face, wondering if she was being chided. Now-a-days only Siegbert ever did that.

Spitzburg's hand closed on her shoulder, and since she had taken off her armor a while ago she could feel the warmth there as he squeezed.

"I mean no offense," Spitzburg's familiar green eyes said. "I am merely concerned. For all that you all chide me about not taking care of myself, all of you work just as hard or even more. I think I will have to take offense, myself: with how much my five generals and my Sage work, I shall have to believe you have me for a lazy lord who would rather sleep until late while the rest of the world slaves away."

The tone in his voice betrays his jest, so Ruffas doesn't feel too bad for murmuring: "... we only believe that on Sundays, my lord."

And the lord laughs, warm and heavy, and Ruffas can feel the sound moving inside her as if it was maryoku, gentle and ever so present, and she curses once more her frail complexion that makes her flush once more at his voice, at his expression.

"That is exactly what I like about you, Ruffas," Lord Spitzburg say, his smile still there. "You are never afraid of voicing your thoughts, nor of telling me the truth. This is why you have my trust."

Her voice catches inside her throat and she has to swallow, has to look down. Would he trust her if he knew that she is not Ruffas but Mathilda? That she took her brother's name thinking that it was what he would have wanted, but now she cannot be sure because this has become her life, a much more fulfilling life than the one she was meant to have as merely Siegbert's wife? Would the lord she vowed her loyalty to still consider her worthy if he was to find out for how long she (and Siegbert, after she had beseeched him for this) have made a fool of him? Ruffas masks the movement by pressing her hand to her chest, half bowing, hoping that her eyes do not betray the turmoil inside her.

"... I swear I will do my best to be worthy of that honor, milord."

"You already are, Ruffas," Her king smiles, nodding, before he pretends to frown. "Now tend to your sword and then, for the spirits of light and fire upon this land that bless us and you among them all, _rest_. I need you alert, Ruffas, not heavy with sleep."

Ruffas nods, and she looks as the lord of the Spitzburg house stands up, walking away, and she adds just for herself: _And I will do my best for you to forgive this secret_, she adds quietly, just for her sake, before she turns back to finish her sword.

Soon, she thinks. She will tell him soon. Once battles do not rest so close upon them, once they reach the Kleist territory and they get a moment to breath, then she will tell him the truth, that she is Mathilda, not Ruffas, and she will await for her kings judgement.

Soon.

.

.

.

**Notes:**  
* I actually started writing this fic a little after I wrote the first one, but then I went to my KKM break so I never finished it until now. It got more than most of my left-over ideas do, so there.

* YES, I know that Ruffas in the novels is a girl. I DIDN'T KNOW THIS BACK THEN. No, I haven't read the novels - I wish I could, but sadly, I can't - so I have no idea how it was handled or anything. This is merely following my previous fic and idea.


End file.
